Page 116 of Ruin of Revenants

Something repelled the motion. The dagger’s tip bounced off the leather breastplate I wore with vicious force. Magic. I blinked down at it like I’d been betrayed, staring dumbfounded at the blade still in my hands and the unblemished leather over my chest.

“Someone dressed me in magicked leathers,” I said, the memory returning to me slowly, hazily. “I’m so sorry, my prince. I’ve failed you.”

Shadows were creeping toward us, and I remembered something else. We were fighting an undead army that wanted to destroy Rainsong and Prince Archer. Desperation and sorrow clawed up my throat.

Prince Archer’s gaze danced away, scanning the encroaching shadows with a sense of urgency. “Slit your throat,” he gritted out. “We don’t have time.”

There was something like regret in his tone. Something was wrong. A bit of dread slipped into my emotions, like a warning in my mind. I glanced at the dagger, unsure, but remembered I couldn’t fail him again. Maybe that was why I felt such dread and anguish.

I lifted the blade once more, ignoring the shouts of battle nearing us. Ignoring the swirling shadows.

Something slammed into me, fire emblazoning the air and burning away the shadows. Archer’s grasp on his magic snapped as he cried out, and horror replaced the dazed adoration I’d been trapped within. Huge claws seized me, lifting me high into the air over Rainsong, over the death and chaos, over the growing shadows and the magical battles swirling below.

I let the dagger fall as I looked upward. A phoenix. But I didn’t recognize its feathers, in glorious shades of bright pink and red. Its flames were like a beacon, but anyone on the ground caught in the grip of the revenants’ shadows probably didn’t notice, didn’t care.

I glanced beyond, noticing more light. Two more phoenixes flanked her, both adorned in feathers I did recognize, ones that made my heart leap with joy and hope. Brenton’s red and orange colors and Brook’s shimmering gold.

As suddenly as the first phoenix had soared into the velvety night sky, it dipped back downward, searing through shadow and depositing me in an empty alley. An instant later, it had shifted into fae form. A female with dark skin and curls matching the shades of her phoenix feathers stood beside me, her rich brown eyes scanning me worriedly. “You’re Isoria Gildmere, the prince’s betrothed,” she said, her brow scrunched in confusion. “Why was he…attacking you? Are you hurt?”

“No.” I shook my head. “Thank you for saving my life. But who are you? How do you know who I am?”

“Scarlet Tideglow, though Prince Archer once asked me to never go by that name again. He and his hunters took my son Cypress and me, but he had a change of heart. He and some of his friends helped me escape and moved me to a new home in Rainsong.”

I shook my head again, as if I could dispel her words. “That doesn’t make sense. He hates our kind.”

“Now I have Cypress hiding with close friends so I could fend off the revenant army and try to keep him safe. I never thought I’d find him working against you. Something is wrong.”

“No, this is how he’s always felt. There must be some confusion, some misunderstanding.”

As I finished speaking, the other phoenixes shifted, joining us in the alley. Bren and Brook ran to me. Tears clogged my throat as I threw my arms around my brother, who nearly crushed me. With a playful punch to Bren’s arm, Brook groaned, “Move out of the way, you big lug. That’s my best friend you’re smashing.”

Bren moved aside, letting Brook tug me to her.

“You’re healed.” My sob shook my shoulders. “You’re all right. But…how are you both here?”

As my friend stepped back, shoving the golden braid that had fallen forward back over her shoulder, her eyes shot to Bren. They shared a look full of unspoken pain.

“Mama,” Bren said slowly, his gold eyes shimmering with sorrow. “She’s…she’s gone, Izzy.”

My stomach clenched with my grief. “I know,” I whispered. “I saw her. But she’s gone to rest in the afterlife now.”

Scarlet stepped forward, glancing among us. “I’m sorry to interrupt your reunion, and I’m glad we have more phoenixes to fight with us. But we don’t have time. You have to do something about the prince, Isoria, before he keeps hunting you down. If his magic compels you again and one of us isn’t there…”

I suppressed a shudder. “I don’t know what you mean. This is what he’s always wanted.”

She frowned. “That’s not true. He’s engaged to you.”

“Because we had to be! We were trapped in a blood bond, and it was the only excuse he could think of to convince his family. If we were parted, we would have died. But the goddess of life broke the bond, and now he is finally free to kill me.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” she breathed. “He’s in love with you.”

I laughed, and Bren and Brook joined me. “That’s ridiculous,” I said, even as I wanted to sob. Memories crept in of the way he’d held me, of how he’d confessed in the darkness that he felt something when he kissed me. I could taste his lips, see his smile. I remembered the way he’d played with the phoenix children in Everhaven and called me Isa. Not Isoria or death-lover or Feathers.

“He died for you,” Scarlet went on.

My eyes snapped to hers. I could feel the shock radiating off my brother and best friend, but I couldn’t stop staring at Scarlet and soaking in her words.

“He came to me, frantic, and said you were grievously hurt. Asked how phoenix resurrection magic worked. He said you were going to die and he needed to help you return.”